Cornell Holds Off Clarkson Rally For 3-3 Tie In Florida

Cornell skated to a 3-3 tie in the consolation game of the Florida College Classic

Dec. 29, 2007

From Cornell Athletics

ESTERO, Fla. -- In a bit of foreshadowing as to what the second half of the season might bring, the Cornell men's hockey team skated to a 3-3 tie against Clarkson in the consolation game of the Florida College Classic on Saturday night at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla. The Big Red held a 3-0 lead after two periods, then battled back a hard-charging Clarkson squad to salvage the tie.

Cornell was awarded third place in the tournament after winning a shootout, 1-0, in seven rounds. Cornell senior Raymond Sawada picked up the shootout winner, a shootout that featured three shots hitting the post, including back-to-back shots by Michael and Patrick Kennedy. In the end, though, it was Sawada wrapping a puck around the outstretched right leg of Clarkson goalie David Leggio, who came on in relief of starter Tim Potter with 7:51 remaining in the third. Potter left the game with the Knights trailing, 3-2, after suffering a cramp in his right calf.

Cornell drew first blood, first by killing off the beginnings of a holding penalty on Tyler Mugford. Mugford was in the box for just 1:22 before Clarkson's Dan Tuttle as whistled for tripping. Just 16 seconds later, Clarkson's Shea Guthrie was called for the same violation deep in the Cornell zone, giving Cornell an extended 5-on-3. Once Mugford got out of the box, the Big Red needed just 40 seconds of the two-man advantage to capitalize. Michael Kennedy, on the right side board, fed the puck down to Topher Scott in the corner, who hit the junior center back with a quick pass. Kennedy's wrist shot caught Potter off-guard, beating the sophomore netminder high to the glove side.

The Big Red added to the lead with just over five and a half minutes remaining when Riley Nash carried the puck into the Clarkson zone and handed off to Colin Greening. Greening then fed a pass through traffic to Patrick Kennedy, who chipped a shot over the outstretched leg of Potter and into the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

Scrivens protected the lead with about a minute and a half remaining in the first when Clarkson's Adam Bellows chipped a pass over the Cornell defense to a waiting David Cayer at the blue line. Cayer skated in alone on Scrivens' right side, but the goalie went down and stacked his pads, kicking the puck up and into the air, where it was batted away by the recovering Cornell defense as the Big Red went into the first intermission with the 2-0 lead.

In the second, again it was Scrivens keeping the Knights off the scoreboard with a pair of spectacular saves on breakaways. With 8:35 remaining in the period, Clarkson's Steve Zalewski charged in alone, only to be turned away by the blocker of the sophomore netminder. Just over 20 seconds later, the Knights charged back down the ice, this time as Matt Beca was sprung past the Cornell defense. Again, Scrivens made the stop, this time kicking the puck into the corner and out of harm's way.

The pair of saves from the sophomore netminder jump-started the Big Red, as a transition play turned into the third Cornell goal of the night. Riley Nash, breaking out of the zone with the puck, hit Colin Greening in the neutral zone. Nash kept charging at Greening, and the sophomore hit Nash in perfect stride at the faceoff dot in front of the Cornell bench. Nash skated in alone and converted on what Clarkson had missed out on doing three times, beating Potter top shelf to make the score 3-0.

In the third period, though, the Knights battled back. Clarkson's rally started 5:37 into the period when David Cayer scored a power play goal after a blocked shot and rebound came out to the weak side. Eight minutes later, it was Steve Zalewski finding the back of the net to cut the Cornell lead to one.

Nearly two minutes later, with Cornell on the power play following a penalty to Clarkson's Tim Marks, Matt Beca was sprung free on a breakaway by Adam Bellows. This time, Beca finished off the break, firing a shot that caromed off the upper post on the back side of the goal.

The game remained tied at three through the final 4:16 of regulation and through the five minute overtime period. The two teams advanced to a shootout to determine third place, with Cornell finally coming away the winner after Sawada's goal on the seventh attempt. Scrivens saved the shootout win with his stop on Clarkson's Grant Clitsome.

Cornell returns home to close out the non-conference portion of the 2007-08 season on Friday, opening up a two-game set against Niagara at Lynah Rink. Game time both Friday and Saturday night is at 7 p.m.